Regression II. Development through regression

As shown in our previous paper (‘Regression I. Experimental approaches to regression’, JAP, 65, 2, 345-65), the common mechanism of regression can be described as reversible dedifferentiation, which is understood as a relative increase of the proportion of low-differentiated (older) systems in actualized experience. Experimental data show that regression following disease (chronic tension headache) is followed by adaptation and an increase in system differentiation in that experience domain which contains systems responsible for that adaptation. The results of mathematical modelling support the idea that reversible dedifferentiation can be one of the mechanisms for increasing the effectiveness of adaptation through learning. Reversible dedifferentiation, which is phenomenologically described as regression, is a general mechanism for restructuring the organism-environment interactions in situations where behaviours that were effective in the past become ineffective. Reversible dedifferentiation has evolved as a component of adaptation when new behaviours are formed and large-scale modifications in the existing behaviours are required in the face of changes in the external and/or internal environment. Thus, the authors believe that this article provides evidence for Jung’s view that regression is not only a ‘return’ to past forms of thinking, affects and behaviour, but that regressive processes provide a significant impetus for psychological growth and development.     

Le transfert intermodal des objets solides à leurs représentations graphiques chez les enfants : les capacités intermodales s’améliorent-elles avec l’âge ?

Children aged of four to six years participated in two cross-modal transfer tasks. (1) They were tactually familiarized with solid objects and then tested for visual recognition memory with outline drawings of them; (2) they were visually familiarized with drawings of objects and then tested for tactually recognition of solid objects. Six simple geometric shapes were presented to the children and could be named by them. Because a preliminary V-V transfer task was totally mastered by three to four year-old children, the children of this experiment were only subjected to an additional T-T transfer task with solid objects. This task permitted the investigation, in the course of development, of their ability to haptically recognize the correct familiar shape without seeing it. Correct recognitions were recorded. They increase similarly from four to five years in the three tasks. However, V-T cross-modal transfer was really mastered between five and six-years. These results are discussed in relation to the development of sensory modes and educational factors such as the learning of writing and reading in nursery school.     

Le développement de la mémoire de travail : perspectives dans le cadre du modèle de partage temporel des ressources

Working memory has a central role in cognitive development and its capacity is among the best predictors of high-level cognition and school achievement. Within the Time-Based Resource Sharing (TBRS) model, three main factors account for the development of working memory capacity. In this paper, we will review the main empirical evidence sustaining the impact of two of these factors on cognitive development. First, the amount of attention available for cognitive functioning might increase during childhood. Thus, for the same activities, older children would be able to process information faster than younger children. Within working memory span tasks, because the level of activation of memory traces decreases during the processing steps, any reduction of the duration of these steps directly diminishes the time during which the traces decay, and consequently increases the time available for reactivation or refreshing before the next processing step. These two effects jointly induce a stronger activation of the memory traces and a better recall of the to-be-maintained items. Second, because the main hypothesis of the TBRS model is that attention switches to refresh memory traces from processing to maintenance during the processing episodes, the efficiency of the refreshing mechanism should have a direct and strong impact on working memory functioning. An increase in the efficiency of this refreshing during childhood means that older children should take a greater advantage from the short pauses left free between each processing step. The level of activation of the memory traces would be then higher for older than for younger children, resulting in the classically observed increase in span. As a consequence, age-related changes in the efficiency of the refreshing could play a central role in working memory development.     

Like mother,like child? Maternal determinants of children's early social-emotional development

Social-Emotional competencies evolve early in life. For example, early emotion regulation is learned primarily in the context of mother–child interaction, which may allow for maternal influences to shape children's social-emotional development. The aim of the current study was to longitudinally examine maternal determinants of children's early social-emotional development in a community-based sample of first-time mothers (N = 61, aged 22–39 years). Specifically, we used structural equation modeling to examine how maternal emotion regulation difficulties and subclinical depression directly and indirectly, through sensitivity and postnatal bonding, assessed at 6 to 8 months predicted child outcomes at 12 to 16 months. We found that mothers’ sensitivity predicted fewer social-emotional and behavioral problems and that stronger bonding predicted fewer problems and more social-emotional competencies. Emotion regulation difficulties were significantly associated with depressive symptoms; yet, when accounting for shared variances, both factors differentially predicted less positive child outcomes such that more difficulties indirectly, through poorer bonding, predicted greater delay in competencies, and more symptoms indirectly, through less sensitivity, predicted more problems. Current findings underline the significance of maternal factors impacting the quality of mother–child interaction for children's positive development. Potential implications for early prevention programs to support children who are otherwise at risk for negative emotional outcomes due to mothers’ emotional state postpartum are discussed.     

Case–contrast study about parent–infant interaction in a Brazilian sample of siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders

Siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) present greater susceptibility to developmental problems, in comparison with siblings of typically developing children. The greater prevalence of mental health disorders among parents of children with ASD increases younger siblings’ vulnerability to emotional problems. The aim of this study is to compare the interaction between carers and babies aged 2 to 26 months (M = 11.7, SD = 6.9) who are siblings of children with ASD (ASD dyads) with the interaction of dyads of siblings of typically developing children (TD dyads). The protocol of Clinical Indicators of Risk for Child Development and the Coding Interactive Behaviour measures were used to evaluate interaction. ASD dyads presented higher scores of constriction in their interaction, P = .024, with babies presenting higher scores of withdrawal behavior, P = .003, and carers presenting higher scores of depressive mood, P = .008, when compared to TD dyads. The ASD dyads have interactive impairments more frequently than do the TD dyads.     

个体特征因素对师徒之间选择倾向的影响

师徒的相互选择过程是师徒关系研究中的一个重要问题。本文采用三个实验探讨了影响师徒相互选择倾向的个体特征因素。实验一和实验二探讨了徒弟选师傅时,师傅的外向性、成就动机水平、管理职务和性别一致性对徒弟选择师傅倾向的影响。实验三探讨了师傅选择徒弟时,徒弟的外向性、成就动机水平和性别一致性对师傅选择徒弟倾向的影响。实验结果表明在徒弟选择师傅时,师傅的外向性、成就动机、管理职务,是影响因素;在师傅选择徒弟时,徒弟的外向性、成就动机水平是影响因素。     

L'interprétation d'indices non verbaux par les enfants

Interpreting appropriately face expressions and analyzing social relations between people, according to their actions are useful competence for treating pragmatic aspects of communication. We do research on these competences by presenting a recognition emotion task, and a task in which movements of geometrical figures simulate social interaction, to 98 children (children aged 8, 10, 12 and 14 years, children with autism and mental retardation). Results show that answers qualitatively increase with age, even after 12 years. Children with autism encounter more difficulties to recognize emotional expression than to attribute intentional actions. Emotion recognition is related to simple intention attribution but not with complex one, which develops later.